Q&A; WITH FRANK DEFORD:Deford intrigues at library

While signing books at the Newport Beach Central Library, Frank Deford received an odd compliment, but it was one that showed he accomplished plenty from his lecture Saturday.

“I don’t give a rat’s doodle about sports, but I really liked your speaking,” Tina Benson, an elderly lady from Irvine, told Deford.

Touching on subjects ranging from the impurity of college sports and the value of teamwork, Deford, the renowned sports writer of Sports Illustrated fame, captivated the group on Saturday afternoon at the library. His set, which was also delivered Friday night, was part of the 10th annual Martin W. Witte Distinguished Speakers Lecture series. Click here

After sharing humorous stories and signing books, Deford sat down with Daily Pilot sports editor Steve Virgen to answer questions from the newspaper’s sports staff.

Question: Your most recent novel, “The Entitled,” is set for release in April. How did you feel after you completed it?

Answer: It was particularly gratifying because I wasn’t sure how the ending was going to come out. Usually you know. This was the case where I was really wrestling with the ending the whole time, so I was especially gratified when I finished it. But having said that, when you finish a novel, it’s almost like you’re saying good-bye to friends. You’ve gotten to know these characters so well. Then, all of a sudden they’re gone. They’ve disappeared. So, there is a little bit of unhappiness there as well.

Q: What are the top three sporting events you’ve covered?

A: Actually I have to say that the best sporting event in my life was one I didn’t cover because I think you’re more influenced in childhood, because I grew up in Baltimore. It was the Colts beating the Giants, in the 1958 championship game, which has been called the greatest game. So that meant the most to me. But for what I’ve covered, I would put the Lakers-Celtics series, not any one game, but those series in the 1960s with [Bill] Russell vs. [Jerry] West and [Elgin] Baylor, I would put that at the top. I would put the John McEnroe-Bjorn Bjorg match in 1980 at Wimbledon. It was almost perfect and Bjorg won it in five sets. And No. 3, Secretariat’s last race at Woodbine in Toronto. That was special, too, watching somebody go out.

Q: Do you think there will ever be an NFL team in L.A.? Why hasn’t there been?

A: I don’t think there’s any question that there will be. But I cannot tell you when. But it’s clear that there hasn’t been one because of the stadium difficulties that nobody can figure out. I also think this, too: the city the size of L.A. is blasé it doesn’t need a team to sort of certify itself. Cities like St. Louis, Jacksonville, places like that this is a big deal for them. But Los Angeles is not going to turn itself on its head just to get a football team, but eventually it will get here. I think there would be a lot of teams that would move here in a minute. I never understood why Al Davis left. It makes no sense to me whatsoever.

Q: What’s the best change in sports since the time you started covering them to now?

A: Women. The fact that women have been given the opportunity to play sports. Not only has that been important from a participant point of view, in other words giving women the same chance of men, but it’s broadened the appeal of sports and has made it much more important.

Q: Do newspapers have a future or are they a dinosaur waiting for extinction?

A: If I knew the answer to that, I would be a consultant to the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and USA Today, right now. I think what’s going to happen, and we’re already starting to see it, is that newspapers will become more journals of opinion and analysis than they will be news-givers. Newspapers will say, ‘OK, get your news off the Internet, get it off the radio or television, and we’re going to slip through news.’ And, so, 50 years down the road, when I’ll be long gone, the intelligentsia in America will read newspapers, but they won’t be the mass medium that they have been. That’s my best guess. But, maybe tabloids will make a comeback, at the low end, gossip, sports, I could see papers like that coming back.

Q: What ‘old-school’ lesson would you most like to give to young sports fans?

A: Be more civil and polite when you are in the stadium. There are people around who don’t want to hear you curse. There are families there. Act the same way in the stadium — with enthusiasm, but with as much courtesy — as you would in a school, in a theater. You can be enthusiastic and root and cheer and scream, but still be well-behaved.

Q: Having played college basketball yourself [at Princeton], did being an athlete help you be a better sports writer?

A: First of all, my career really ended, my active career ended in high school. I was a helluva high school player. But I found my level very quickly in college. But I think that it helped in a way in that I sort of understood competition. I understood winning and losing and how athletes could deal with that. Did it help me understand the game any better? No. I think you can learn that just as well never having played a game in your life. I’ve seen writers in wheelchairs who have been paralyzed all their lives who understand the game much better than I did, even though I played it. So, I don’t think you have to play the game to appreciate the game and understand and be an expert in it. But I do think it helped me to have the sense of being part of the team.

Q: Have you ever battled with objectivity?

A: Oh, sure. Every time I write a story. If you’re writing sports and you don’t care who’s going to win there’s something wrong with you and you’re not going to write a good story. If you’re involved in that game, you should, if you’re a human being, take sides. Now, then you’ve got to battle it because maybe the team you’re rooting for wins and you’ve got to guard against being too enthusiastic. The team you’re rooting against wins and you’ve got to guard against your disappointment coming out. But if you don’t care who wins then I don’t think you’re engaged, I don’t think you’re involved and I don’t think you’re going to write as good a story. If you just turn on the television and you’re watching the game, within a short period of time, you tend to go one way. Maybe it’s just because you want the team from behind to catch up, but you root for somebody. If you don’t, you’re going to change the dial because who cares, it’s just a game. When you cover people for a long time you get to know them personally. You can still root for them as people and I don’t think you can avoid that. I think one of the hardest jobs in this business is the guy who covers a team all season log. You’re with those guys, you’ve got to write about them, you’ve got to be harsh and then you see them the next day. Man, that’s hard. It’s tough. I don’t think you can [be harsh] to high school kids, I don’t think you can do that to most college kids. I think you have to understand that they’re very fragile. But when you’re writing about pros, I think you have to be tough. It’s hard. I battle with objectivity all the time.

Q: What’s the most meaningful story you’ve ever written?

A: [1990 World Cup quarterfinal, Cameroon vs. England. Deford went to Cameroon to get the people perspective of the game] That was the one that touched me the most. Because it was the whole country. I did a lot of stories on disadvantaged people and poor people and so forth. But this was a whole country and it was a one-time thing. [Deford still keeps in his office a photo of a lady dancing with him because she was so happy after Cameroon scored a goal]